Palestinians sit around a fire during a power outage outside their house in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 18, 2020. A Palestinian official in the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company announced on Tuesday that the only power station in the Gaza Strip has completely stopped operation due to fuel shortage. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)
GAZA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian official in the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company announced on Tuesday that the only power station in the Gaza Strip has completely stopped operation due to fuel shortage.
Muhammad Thabet, director of public relations in the company, told Xinhua in Gaza all the four turbines of the power station turned off as a result of Israel's decision to ban the fuel shipment to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing point between southern Gaza Strip and Israel.
He added that turning off the turbines obliged the company to adopt an electricity distribution schedule from three to four hours per day.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Energy Authority said in a press statement that the power station's closure "would negatively affect all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip." It also held Israel fully responsible for any disastrous consequences.
The Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, needs 500 megawatts everyday. But the power station generates only 210 megawatts, while Egypt supplies Gaza with 30 megawatts and Israel with 120 megawatts.
Israel closed the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing with the Gaza Strip last week, except for the entry of humanitarian aid, in response to the launching of incendiary balloons from the coastal enclave into southern Israel. Enditem
